SET Training - Banking and Fintech

Introduction: The Hidden Cost of a Cashless Future The advance of digital currencies is often presented as the next logical step in financial convenience—a seamless, efficient future. But what if this digital evolution comes with a hidden, non-negotiable price—our personal freedom? This article exposes four truths about Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), using the words of their own proponents to reveal an agenda not of convenience, but of absolute, programmable control. 1. Your Money Will No Longer Be Yours—It Will Be "Programmable" The core innovation of a CBDC is the concept of "programmable money." This means a central authority, such as a government or central bank, would have the ability to place rules, restrictions, and conditions directly onto your funds. Your money would no longer be a neutral tool for exchange but a permission-based token controlled by the state. This technology transforms personal assets into a state-managed voucher system. It could...

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are under fire in a new Gatestone Institute article, warning that they threaten personal and economic freedom. Economist Richard A. Werner calls CBDCs a 'digital prison', enabling totalitarian control over spending. With the EU pushing a Euro CBDC and concerns raised by the Bank for International Settlements’ Agustin Carstens about 'absolute control,' fears of abuse grow, pointing to Canada’s trucker account freezes as a chilling example. In the U.S., efforts by President Trump and the House aim to ban CBDCs, as the article argues they’re a globalist step toward unprecedented power and suppression of dissent."

Most central banks are working on developing some form of sovereign digital currency. But are they paying attention to the right things? Political opposition from the likes of Donald Trump have not stemmed the flow of global projects aimed at developing CBDCs. 130 countries are exploring a CBDC, 19 of the G20 countries are now in advanced stages, and 11 countries have fully launched a digital currency. There are those who question whether we need a fiat digital currency at all and whether projects address more pressing monetary concerns. Read MORE

How "passive income" money-making scams seem to have taken over the world, and the economic implications of such scams.

Teens are getting a head start in understanding personal finance through apps designed to help them manage money, with parental supervision.  Host J.R. Whalen is joined by WSJ personal-finance reporter Oyin Adedoyin as well as a mother of twin 15-year olds who are active on several apps.

Under an Executive Order with the innocuous number 14067 and its title, "Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets" , any transfer of funds to family, friends, charities, or clients using digital currency would be able to be tracked by the nation's central bank that issued this virtual money.  Big Brother will be in your wallet every hour or every day. You will not be able to buy a stick of gum without a Federal Reserve computer knowing where, when, and to whom you just put down a buck. Read the full article on the Gatestone Institute website HERE . 

The U.S. dollar is the world’s dominant currency and plays a key role in global trade. While that may seem like good news to Americans, it’s bad news for much of the world.  “So here’s the paradox. The rest of the world despises how dominant the dollar is, yet they go to the U.S. dollar, because there really isn’t much of an alternative,” said Eswar Prasad, an economist at the Brookings Institution and professor at Cornell University.  Despite constant predictions of the dollar’s demise, nearly 60% of the world’s central banks’ foreign exchange reserves – the money the hold to cover unexpected financial emergencies – are invested in dollar-denominated assets.  The share of the U.S. dollar as a payment currency worldwide is more than 40%, while it makes up more than 60% of international debt and 50% of loans globally.  Besides being the go-to currency for international financial transactions, commodities such as oil are also bought and sold in U.S. dollars.  The ...